With the news constantly being filled with horror stories from the car rental market a new firm, Ridelink, it promising to shake things up, launching a business with a mission to streamline the industry. Seeing a problem with this monopolised market Ridelink wish to ‘challenge the status quo’.
With competitiveness at the centre of the international car rental industry all of the money made from these services are fed up the pyramid to the three big players Enterprise (which includes companies Alamo and National Car Rental), Hertz (which includes firms like Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly) and Avis (which includes subsidiaries like Payless).
The rise of P2P in the car rental market
What Ridelink offers is a Peer-to-Peer platform where people can rent cars from each other, positioning themselves as the Airbnb of the car rental space. Cutting out the middle men and working with an air of transparency, displaying all of the payment information and terms and conditions in a clear fashion.
Alexander Stevenson, chief executive officer (CEO) of Ridelink, is eager to promote the ‘no hidden fees’ aspect to the business, celebrating the fact that the price you see on the website is the price you pay.
“Perhaps the biggest bugbear for people renting a car is that the real profit from traditional car rental companies often comes from extra fees,” he adds.
“Many companies bait customers in with a very cheap offer – this is particularly seen with low cost options in Spain – then when you get to airport there’s a multi-hour long line, designed to be that way in order to wear down. They then look to apply fuel charges and deposit charges and fees for not having the right type of credit card or enough room on the card you booked. There’s lots of additional fees that they’re hoping you’re impatient enough to pay.”
Let us know what you think, is there space for such a company in an already-flourishing market? Leave your thoughts with us.
